Button.



P. CUSTEN.

BUTTON.

APPucATmN FILED MAY15. |914.

1,197,350, Patented Sept. 5,1916.

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' IIIIIE SIAVIF PATENT @FFIQE PHILIP CUSTEN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 5, 1916.

Application filed'May 15, 1914. Serial No. 838,745.

17 h all 207mm t may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP CUsrnN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, county and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Buttons, of which the following is a. full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to a class of devices adapted to be used in conjunction vwith wearing apparel. l

My invention has for its object primarily to provide a button designed to be used especially on garments worn by persons whereby the requirement for fastening it to the garment by the use of stitches may be dispensed with, and which is constructed so that when applied to a garment the button may be moved with freedom to permit its head to be easily guided through a button hole, thus overcoming the objections to the use of stitches which soon break away as well as obviating the necessity for employ ment of types of buttons which are clamped to the garment in a manner so as to be very rigid and diilicult to pass through a button hole. This form of button further enables it to be especially used in conjunction with waterproof garments made of rubber, or similar material, the buttons being usually attached thereon by thread which is passed through an opening in the material and requires the use of a supplemental button on the second end thereof in order to prevent the thread from tearing the material at the opening. This is accomplished mainly by providing a rigid shank in the form of a post which extends from the underside of the head of the button. The post has a pointed free end, and the periphery of the post lengthwise thereof is partially serrated in the form of saw-teeth having their angular ends disposed toward the head of the button to provide stops.

Another object of the invention is to provide a spring actuated retaining device, or clip, or forked element adapted to be guided over the pointed post and adjusted thereon in a manner whereby Jthe button will be held on the garment; and a further object of the `invention is to provide a buttonV of simple and eflicient construction, and which is susceptible of being made in plain or ornamental designs.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the viewsr the said invention being more fully described hereinafter, and then pointed out in the claim at the end of the description.

In the drawing, Figure 1, is a fragmentary view of a part of a garment showing one form of button embodying my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a frag .mentary view showing a reverse side of the garment illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the button, part of which being shown in section. Fig. a is an enlarged top plan of the clip employed in conjunction with the button, and Fig. 5 is an enlarged top plan of the forked spring member of the clip.

The button has a head 10 which may be of any desired shape and size, and of either plain, or ornamental design. Projecting from the underside of the head 10 is a rigid shank 11 in the form of a post which is preferably circular in shape, and the free end of the post is tapered, or pointed, as 12. Approximately one-half the periphery of the post 11 lengthwise thereof is serrated in the form of saw-teeth, as 18. A suitable number of the teeth 13 may be provided, and the free angular ends of these teeth are disposed toward the button head to serve as stops. To apply the button to a garment, as 13a the pointed end of the shank, or post 11 is forced through the material so that the head 1() will be displayed on the exterior surface thereof.

The shank, or post 11 is made of sufficient length to extend some distance beyond the opposite surface of the material, and serving to detachably fasten the head and the post 11 to the garment, I provide a spring actuated retaining device, or clip, as 14. rIhe clip 14: has a forked element 14a which may be made of spring wire or other yielding material, and this element has a substantially U-shaped body 15. Projecting from the arms of the U-shaped body 15 are integral gripping members, or extensions 16 and 17 which are disposed in spaced relation so that the free ends thereof converge toward each other. When the forked element is made of round wire, the greater part of the central portion of the gripping members, or extensions 16 and 17 are flattened, as at 18 and 19, to conform to the underedge of the teeth 13 of the post 11, as shown in Fig. 3.

The forked spring element 14a is secured to a supporting plate 20 by a bolt, or pin 21 which is passed between the arms of the U- shaped body 15 and is tightly held in the supporting plate in proximity to a part of its edge. rl`hrough the central part of the supporting plate 2O is an opening` Q2 which is of greater diameter than the post 11 of the button to permit the plate to be freely guided over the po-st. The forked element 1l is disposed on the supporting plate so that its gripping members or arms, or eX- tensions 16 and 17 will extend crosswise of the opening 22 of the plate and for thecenter of the opening to be in register with approximately the center of the space between the gripping members, or arms of the forked spring element. On one surface of the plate 2O and inclosing the forked element is a cap 23 which may be semi-circular, or any other suitable shape.

When the button is applied to a garment, as above eXplained, the retaining device, or clip 14 is disposed so that the pointed end of the post 11 will be guided through the opening 22 of the supporting plate 20 and into the space between the gripping members of the forked element 141:@ which will yield sufficiently to allow the post to freely pass therebetween. The retaining device, or clip is then forced a distance over the post until the supporting plate 20 is in contact with the material, or is suitably spaced therefrom. By rotatably moving the clip accordingly on the post the tension of the forked element 111a will force its gripping members, or arms into engagement with one of the teeth 13 of the post, and the button will be held against accidental displacement on the garment. As the post 11 is only partially serrated, or toothed the retaining device, or clip 14 may be removed therefrom by rotating the clip until the forked element 11in is released from engagement with the teeth of the post. The clip may then be readily withdraw-n from the post which in turn may be directed from its opening in the garment to permit the button to be used on another garment if desired. By the employment of the post 11 and the clip 14 in this manner for fastening the button to a garment the head of the button may be readily moved for permitting it to be easily guided through a buttonhole, and the use of thread, or like means as well as the use of supplemental buttons may be dispensed with.

In the foregoing description, I have embodied the preferred form of my invention, but I do not wish to be understood as limitin g myself thereto, as I am aware that modifications may be made therein without departing from the principle, or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention, therefore I reserve to myself the right to make such changes as fairly fall within the scope of the appended claim.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent n A' button comprising a head, a post and a cap adapted to lit over said post and to be rigidly secured thereto; said cap comprising an apertured supporting plate, a cup shaped member mounted over said plate, a pin on said plate and a U-shaped spring member having the bend thereof fiXedly attached to said plate by means of said pin, the ends of said U-shaped memberbeing free and disposed over the aperture in said plate, substantially as and for the purpose described.

This specification signed and witnessed this fourteenth day of May A. D.1914.

PHILIP CUSTEN.

Vitnesses:

Jos. FRIED, Ro'r. B. ABBOTT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of lPatents, Washington, D. C. 

